brad holdgrafer - approaching your business as an experiment

Brad Holdgrafer is the founder, along with his wife Jenna, of a small home goods store in downtown Los Angeles called Formerly Yes. They sell well designed and functional goods for your home and office from around the world. Their products range from different designers, different time periods, and different materials. All under the mantra to buy less but better.

Walking into Formerly Yes is quite the experience. It is immediately apparent what Brad and Jenna are trying to accomplish with functionality and design. Everything in their store is simple and useful. The reasoning behind it all was partially sparked by an experience of living on a small boat, where functionality was more of an absolute necessity.

But Brad also comes from a design background, and as I started talking to him it was clear that he loves sketching out new ideas in his head. I quickly realized that Formerly Yes was just one of those ideas. Him and Jenna were approaching it like an experiment. And as quickly as it became what it is today, it could evolve and change tomorrow.